Members Wales2004 Posted June 8, 2012 Members Share Posted June 8, 2012 I believe her brother did some of the writing. The show didn't seem to have much direction by the second season. They could only go so far with the savior nurse and it was ridiculous to go from holding on tightly to widowhood to skipping all facets of a courtship to pregnancy. As poorly as the second season was written, nothing can even come close to the disastrous third season. I don't think I've ever watched a show where the heroine was a completely loathsome character until then. Too bad Michael Vartan's character was used to sell that disaster. I kept watching it because I was determined to see that wreck through to the end since I knew there was no way that would get renewed. I cannot imagine anyone with a clue going that route. Part of the problem was in believing that social media could be used to tell the story that wasn't appearing on screen. But the bigger problem was believing that Marc Anthony wad going to attract more viewers. I was also repulsed by the misuse of Derek Luke in that distasteful storyline with the young girl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ann_SS Posted June 8, 2012 Members Share Posted June 8, 2012 LOL! I caught a couple of episodes in season 3. Christina was a horror show by then. The way she treated Tom! Yikes. I don't know why they married them off so quickly if they were going to turn around and give her a new love interest. They could have strung out the courtship and have Marc Anthony's character as the the wheel. I am not a fan of Grey Anatomy and I like Private Practice a bit more, but there is no way that Shonda would do that Olivia and Fitz. From her interviews, she understands that they are the draw. Hopefully, she focuses on them with the case of the week and other characters tagging along for the ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted June 8, 2012 Members Share Posted June 8, 2012 I think as shows go on, the main characters sometimes become highly unpleasant. A good actress can carry that off. For instance, I loathed McMurphy on China Beach after a few seasons, but Dana Delaney was still able to wring some brilliance out of it. I just don't think Jada Pinkett is much of an actress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wales2004 Posted June 8, 2012 Members Share Posted June 8, 2012 Having the titular character be so loathsome is a little more problematic even with a good actor but I guess a compelling one might have been able to pull it off. Unfortunately, there weren't any characters who could offset her. Tom was sympathetic but he didn't have enough of a role since the show was swallowed up by Christina's growing contempt for Tom, Nick (Marc Anthony), his family, making Bobbie look foolish, and the daughter and Derek Luke's character's twisted spiritual lusting for each other. In lieu of proper writing, JPS seemed to believe that she could satisfy whoever rooted for Christina and Tom with that trainwreck of a wedding ceremony and that the marriage would be enough to have that group stick through the disaster that shortly followed. There was no need for the second season grief sex. She could have simply agreed to go out with Tom and tried dating. I couldn't buy into Nick because he seemed obsessed. One trip to iHop or whatever all night diner that was and he's crazy in love with the irresistible Christina so that he'd kill for her. I watched GA sporadically until they ran me off completely with Izzy and Denny. All I wanted was for him to die and it seemed to be too much to ask for way too long. I've never seen PP. I am sure SR intends to milk Olivia and Fitz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members marceline Posted June 8, 2012 Members Share Posted June 8, 2012 I know we're off topic but what drove me crazy about Hawthorne is that it was everything that I'm always saying I want to see more of on soaps: diverse cast, strong women, complicated men who aren't abusive, lots of workplace drama, etc... and Jada still managed to turn it into garbage. The writing was just so extraordinarily bad that I spent most of the episodes wondering what was happening from one moment to the next. Whatever Shonda's shortcomings as a writer - and she has many - I can't imagine Scandal ever devolving into the level of fuckery that Hawthorne did. Even Private Practice hasn't gotten that bad and PP has made me dislike Taye Diggs. I didn't think I was genetically capable of hating a character played by that pretty, pretty man but Shonda found a way. But Scandal has one hell of an asset in Kerry Washington. That woman breaks my heart with her eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members marceline Posted June 8, 2012 Members Share Posted June 8, 2012 Looks like we've got some cast tweaking going on. Henry Ian Cusick (Steven) out, Joshua Malina (David) bumped to series regular. http://www.hollywood...eturning-335341 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ann_SS Posted June 9, 2012 Members Share Posted June 9, 2012 The characterization and storytelling was dire. The show had no vision. I read criticism that the show was a vanity project for Jada and I think that turned out to be true. I am not her biggest fan, but I enjoy watching her with Tony Goldwyn. They have crazy chemistry and work well together. Better than almost all the couples on Shonda's other shows, IMO. I like this development. Cusick is handsome, but Malina is the stronger actor. Scandal would benefit from giving him more to do. I would love to see him determined to find Amanda's murderer. Given that Cusick has a recognizable name due to Lost, I am sure that he wanted a more prominent role but that is unlikely to happen on Scandal. The supporting actors did not do much in the first season and if there are only 13 episodes next season that won't change. It just occurred to me that Malina was brought in to fill the gap left by Rob Lowe when his ego would not let him stay on The West WIng as part of an ensemble. Now again Molina is taking up a spot for bigger named actor on Scandal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wales2004 Posted June 9, 2012 Members Share Posted June 9, 2012 It almost seems as if her sole purpose in fast forwarding Tom and Christina was setting the stage for a triangle with Nick. She must've figured that there would not be as much interest in Nick as there was in Tom so poor Tom was used to wage some sort of conflict between viewers that were invested in the couplings. She used social media to start Team Tom and Team Nick and to seemingly tell the story that wasn't being told on the show. What she failed to understand was that everyone watching the show wasn't involved in her Team games nor was everyone on social media filling in the significant blanks. She dedicated one episode to an improvised therapy session in which she tried to excuse Christina's treatment of Tom on daddy issues. In order to sell that piece of garbage, the viewer woluld have to be totally unaware that she was married to Camille's father. Maybe she thought that Christina would garner enough sympathy for being brutallly beaten and losing her baby to excuse her cheating on Tom. Or maybe she thought viewers would support her not matter what. Michael Vartan was the draw for me and she should have realized that he might have been the reason some viewers bothered to watch. I'm guessing that she thought Marc Anthony's fans would flock to the show to see him and went with alienating a segment of the viewers on the chance that MA would pay off. I am glad she was rewarded with cancellation for thinking soap games should take the place of decent storytelling and overestimating her pull. Back to Scandal.... So since the one interview I read where the person interviewing her pushed the idea that David and Olivia have great chemistry (I believe that person might not have been keen on Fitz and Olivia and wanted Fitz and Mellie to work things out) and SR responded in a way that gave me the impression she was surprised by that. In a subsequent interview she took the position that they have amazing chemistry. Hopefully she will leave it at near friendship level and their interaction will be based on developed trust over whoever Quinn is. I don't want to see any messy attraction thing pushed between them that would make working together awkward. I do like the character Stephen since he seemed to give Olivia balance and he knew. I guess that job will go to Abby. I guess that also means that the season premiere will begin on a new day with Quinn's secret already revealed and they'll just fill the audience in on what it is, along with acknowledging Stephen's departure from the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ann_SS Posted June 9, 2012 Members Share Posted June 9, 2012 I don't think that anything romantic will be happening between David and Olivia. If SR is smart, she would play them like frenemies. Any love interest for Olivia will be roadkill for her and Fitz' love story so I think that someone will be brought in for a few episodes. My first choice would be Idris Elba, but he is becoming a movie star and he has Luther so he probably has no time. Michael Ealy would have also been a great option, but he has his own series now. So I would go with Paul Walker or Omar Epps or Mekhi Phifer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wales2004 Posted June 11, 2012 Members Share Posted June 11, 2012 I like your first three choices but she can have Olivia flirt with practically anyone not on her team since it goes nowhere. This is where Billy would have been perfect because he was that flirtatious guy. I think the best way to increase the level of intensity in the Fitz and Olivia relationship would be to have some guy who works in the WH or has some contact with the staff, show interest in Olivia. The same thing might be accomplished if Fitz had Olivia watched and found out she was seeing someone but I think the greater friction would be with someone with whom he has to work. It makes him a whole lot powerless to have to sit there watching it in action and not be able to say or do anything about it on the spot. David and Olivia can have mutual respect for each other. I don't care if they have any of those types of scenes that hint at the possibility that they could go to another level. But I think that Olivia will be more devoted to work than the pursuit of a fling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ann_SS Posted June 13, 2012 Members Share Posted June 13, 2012 Bellamy Young (Mellie) will be a regular next season: http://www.deadline.com/2012/06/bellamy-young-named-regular-on-scandal/ I really like these changes to cast. With Mellie in the mix, Fitz and Olivia's problems are about to get worse. I really hope that Mellie does not get pregnant or if she does, she does not have the baby. If there is going to be a baby, it should be Olivia's with Fitz. I think that I will watch the first couple of episodes next season. If they improve, I might stick around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ann_SS Posted June 17, 2012 Members Share Posted June 17, 2012 I decided to buy Scandal since the DVD is relatively cheap. I might actually watch the whole final 5 episodes, but Fitz and Olivia are the selling points here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ann_SS Posted June 21, 2012 Members Share Posted June 21, 2012 Okay, this show has some of the worse camera work that I have ever since on prime time. It looks like I filmed it with a hand held camera; shaky shots galore. There appears to have only been one camera used most of the time which is why many of the characters' key reaction shots are missing. ABC has got to put some more money into this show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ann_SS Posted August 1, 2012 Members Share Posted August 1, 2012 Thought I would bring some Scandal news to the thread. As of now, Scandal is getting 13 episodes and it premieres on Thursday, September 27th at 10:00 p.m. Spoiler interviews: http://www.tvguide.com/News/Scandal-Season2-Spoilers-Shonda-Rhimes-1047675.aspx http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/07/26/scandal-season-2-spoilers-tony-goldwyn/#more-95095 Spoilers (scroll down): http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/07/27/new-girl-revenge-scandal-sons-of-anarchy-spoilers/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gladiator in flip flops Posted September 1, 2012 Members Share Posted September 1, 2012 I love, love, "SCANDAL". It's the only thing I am interested in this fall. I can't wait until they come back. But there are lots of questions I still have running thru my head. Just because I love the show doesn't mean I don't see the faults and I don't have critizism. It's not perfect and I am the first to say it. I love this thread in that there are a lot of well thoughtout opionions. There is a really discussion here. Very detail. Not those one liners on Tweety Bird or other places. Which is EXACTLY what I am looking for. Anyways, Liv and Fitz are a match!!!! Seriously. What Chem!! The best line on tv this year is: "Why didn't I meet you sooner? What kind of coward was I to marry her and not wait for you to show up? OMG!!! Stop It!!!!! You guys. Have you ever heard of such a thing? And that ONE MINUTE thing. OMG! Who does that? Okay, let me calm down. It's just that I don't get to talk about this show much and I am hoping I can come talk here. Okay my first question to you all: DO YOU THINK BILLY CHAMBERS AND CYRUS BEENE ARE WORKING TOGETHER? ~Milo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.